Koala — Task Manager

Koala is a minimalist task manager wearable that helps users reduce stress by managing and prioritizing their tasks so they don’t feel overwhelmed. First the user inputs all their tasks with the koala app on their phone, then selects up to four tasks they want to complete for the day to sync with their koala wearable. This helps users “brain dump” all their tasks and think about what really needs to get done. The wearable indicates the tasks for the day, and the user can turn off each task as it is completed by tapping the icon on the wearable. When they are done with all their tasks, they know that they are free to relax and give their brain the rest it needs.

We wanted to design a wearable that helps reduce stress, so we began by conducting a survey and a few interviews. The big theme that stood out to us from the results was that people get stressed from having too many different things to do at once. When looking at existing products, we noticed that many of them have extra features that end up being distracting rather than helpful. These are the reasons why we wanted to design a minimalist app and wearable, that helps the user calm their overwhelmed brain and gets to the point without any more distractions. We used soft primary colors throughout our design to follow this simple and straightforward theme.

App: I used Adobe Experience Design to create the final app flow, Adobe After Effects to edit the app flow video, and Adobe Photoshop to create the final phone images. First we made prototypes on paper and in Adobe Illustrator, then I went into Adobe Experience Design to continue refining. The icons were designed by my teammate Wei Li in Adobe Illustrator.
Wearable: The final CAD model was created in Solidworks and rendered in Keyshot by Wei. We made hand sketches, blue foam prototypes, and 3D printed prototypes to test the form and readability.
Video: The final video was made in Adobe After Effects by my teammate Nate Chang. He went through several iterations to refine towards the final video.

People really liked our project and commented on how relatable and applicable it is to their own life. They appreciated how clean and simple the overall aesthetics and idea are. Since this was my first project that incorporated designing an app, I learned a lot about testing app flow and interface designs, and really loved getting to do it.

Please visit my portfolio at misungpollmann.com or behance.net/msp330264 for more details and to see the video.
Thank you so much for viewing our project!

Misung Pollmann

I am a senior studying industrial and interaction design at the University of Washington.